Caisson.



R. H. CHAMBERS.

CAISSON.

A.AIPLIGJI'IION FILED DBO. Z1, 1911'.

1,026,656. Patented May 21, 1912.

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WIM/ESSE /NVE/VTR molmfr R. H. CHAMBERS.

CAISSON.

APPLICATION FILED DEC. 1, 1,026,656. V ,2 19 Patented May 21,1912.

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f Ni y n:

. /TNESSES Anon/vn COLUMNA PLANOGRAPII co.. WASHINGTON. D. c.

B.. H. CHAMBERS.

CAISSON.

APPLICATION FILED 13116.21, 1911.

wlrlvfssfs MMM/MENOR .fw W f? l By /b Ao/m5? coLUMBIA PLANOGRAPH cv.,WASIHN C.

Patented May 21, 1912.

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R. H. CHAMBERS.

CAISSON. APPLIOATIONHLBD 11110.21, 1911.

Patented May 21, 1912.

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OOO OOO WIr/msgs TRNEY vUNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

RALPH H. CHAMBERS, 0F NEW YORK, Y., ASSIGNOR TO THE FOUNDATION COMPANY,A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

CAISSON.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application led December 21, 1911.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, RALPH H. CHAMBERS, a citizen of the United States,residing in the city, county, and State of New York, have invented newand useful Improvements in Caissons, of which the following is aspecification.

The invention aims to provide certain improvements in caissons, andespecially 1(though not exclusively) pneumatic caissons used in formingfoundation piers for high buildings. Such caissons have in some cases,generally under the outer wall of the building, to be made long and asnarrow as pos-l sible. The minimum width is limited by the necessity ofproviding adequate width in the working chamber for workmen, buckets andso forth; and where the walls are of concrete they have been made sothick as to make both the excavation and the finished pier unnecessarilywide (involving a. material expense) .and to reduce the area within theline of piers which is available for cellars. With the aid of thisinvention such walls can be made much thinner than heretofore with aconsequent saving in cost and increase in the available area within theline of piers. For this purpose the long side -wall is stiffened bymembers extending vertically (that is, from top to bot-tom,

whether truly vertical or otherwise) the spaces between such members orbetween one of said members and the end of the wall being filled withconcrete. The stiifening members are preferably of non-plastic material,such for example as steel I-beams or other webbed and iianged shapes,and may extend inward beyond the inner face of the ordinary concreteportions of the wall, since these stilfenin'g members are not very widenor very close together and so do not interfere seriously with the workbeing done in the chamber. The stiffening members may be designed towithstand the entire inward pressure on the wall, but this is notessential. The intermediate concrete portions,

even though made quite thin, will contribute.

a material measure of stiffness to the complete wall.

Other features of improvement are referred to hereinafter.

The accompanying drawings illustrate embodiments of' theV invention.

Figure 1 is partly a longitudinal vertical section of a lcompletedworking chamber and partly a similar view of the stiffening members,reinforcing rods and outside mold. Fig. 2 is partly a horizontal sectionof the completed working chamber and partly a plan view of the outer andinner molds with the stiffening members and reinforcing rods in place.Fig. 3 is a transverse vertical section ofacompleted working chamber.Figs. 4 and 5 are respectively a vertical and a horizontalsection of acircular caisson. Figs. 6, 7 and 8 are respectively an elevation of astiftening frame and sections on the lines 7*7 and 8 8 of Fig. 6.

Referring to the embodiment ofthe invention illustrated, the long sidesA and the short'ends B support a roof C and form the working chamber. Ashaft or passage through the roof is provided by means of a lining Daround which the roof is molded. The roof and the sides and ends areformed chieiy of concrete molded in place. A variety of contours of theinner faces of the chamber is possible and a variety of constructions ofthe mold. Figs. 1 and 2 (the right hand portions) show an inside moldwhich forms the under face of. the roof sloping toward the ends andtoward the sides; and shows the inner faces of the side and end wallstapering toward the lower edge where they are reduced to the width ofthe cutting edgeV which comprises a plate E, an inner angle F forreinforcing the concrete edge and an outer angle G projecting downward.The outer mold extends directly vertical. Between the two molds arelocated at suitable intervals vertically extending members H, I-beamsYin the ease illustrated, the lower ends of which rest upon the cuttingedge and are connected by transverse braces consisting of channels Jextending across the lower part of the working chamber. The upper endsof the I- beams H are also tied together by a pair of channels K. Theseparts, H, J and K, therefore, form a self-contained structure of greatstrength to resist the lateral pressures encountered, withouttransmitting such pressures to the cutting edge or other part of thecaisson. The design and framing of these parts is shown in detail inFigs. 6, 7 and 8. There are two such frames in the construction shown inFigs. 1 and 2, which may for example represent a caisson about 18 feetlong and 6 feet 10 inches wide, measuring from the outer faces. Forother self-'contained and, therefore, do'not trans-- dimensions of thecaisson the stiifening members or structures may be differently designedand may be increased or diminished in number according to the depth towhich the caisson is to be sunk and othei`1V` extending near the outerfaces, and O ex-` tending near the inner faces; and two. sets ofhorizontal rods P and Q adjacent respectively to the vertical rods N and(D. The horizontal outer rods P are -connected at the corners by meansof vertical angles R.

The upper corners of the stiffening frames H, J, K are connected bymeans of longi tudinal angles S which extend substantially the fulllength of thecaisson, these being connected at their ends to verticalangles T which in turn are connected Ato transverse angles U extendingnear the outer faces of the ends of the chamber.

ends to the cutting edge. This frameof angle irons S, T, U not onlyholdsthe stilfening frames in place, but also stiifensl the concrete atthe ends and betweenthe frames. The concrete side portions Lextend attheir ends within the flanges of the I-beams H. Thus the transversestrains which come on the concrete wallA are transmitted to thestifl'ening frames which are made of ample strength to carry thestrains.

The connection between the concrete and theM stiffening members H'ismade morefpositive by passing the horizontal rods'P Land Q' through thewebs of the members H, the latter being perforated for the purposes TheI-beams H may be of such sizey Vv(see Figs. 2 and 3) that when theirouter facesA areflush with the outer faces of the concrete their innerfaces project beyond thei-inner faces of the concrete, or beyondthelower part of such face where the latter is tapered as in Fig. 3.Thus a very thin wall of concrete may be used. The' stiffening members Hand the connecting members J are located at considerable intervals apartalong the length of the caissons, so that their-projection into theworking chamber does not materially interfere-with the work.

The frames H, J, K rest upon-the cutting edgeE, F,`G as shown in Fig..6and are fastened theretoby means of short` angles' V, Figs. 6 and 7.Thus while the frames are The vertical` cor-4 ner angles Tl areconnected attheir lower` mit any strain to the cutting edge, thetransverse membersJ serve to brace the cutting edge atone or -morepointsin its length so as to add considerably to the strength of theacuttingedge and of the side walls of the caissons even without the stiffnesswhich is contributed -by the vertical members H.A

Likewise, the stiening members H are of considerable value, even withoutthe transverse braces J, in making it possible to use a thinner wallthanwouldotherwise be safe.

Figs. 4 and 5 show a. circular caisson, the shape of which avoids thenecessity of transverse braces since there are no long straight walls.In this case the cutting edgeW is connected directly to the verticalstiening z members H, and the upper ends .of the stiffeningmembers areconnected by a ring K of angular cross section..` The cutting edge 1V@andthe member; K practically serve the samev purposesas the-transversebracesJ and K of the previousfigures, taking .into

consideration the circularwnature of Ithe.

may be made by those skilled in thetartwithout departure'from theinvention.

What I claim is- 1. vA caisson the sides of which are formed chiefly ofconcrete and comprise vert-ical I- beams with theirvwebs extendingtransversely and the flanges engaged by the icon-V crete.v to receivethe transverse pressure thereof,a cutting edge .extending around thelower edge'of the caisson and means independent of said cutting edge forbracing the lower ends'of said-:I-beams.

2. A caisson the sides-of which are formed chiefly* of concrete andcomprise verticallbeams -with ltheir 1webs vextending transversely andthe flangesiengaged by the concrete to receive the .transverse pressurethereof,- and braces extendingidirectly across the caisson betweenthelower ends fofsaid I-beams.

3. A tcaisson "the sides -of "which f are formed chiefly=of concrete andcomprise vertical -'Ibea1ns with `their :webs extending transverselyiandthe flanges engaged by the concrete to receivetheI transverse pressurethereof, a concrete roof-andbraces between r the upper endsfof saidI-beams and embedded in said roof.

4. A pneumatic caisson havinga working chamber with a roof, longsidewalls and short end walls,said roof and walls being chiefly of concrete,said long side walls `being stil'enedwat considerably separatedintervals in their lengthby stiff vertically extending metal membersembedded in the concrete and extending from the roof to the cutting edgeof said side walls, and transverse braces. extending across the lowerpart of the chamber and connecting the lower ends of said verticallyextending members so as to resist the lateral pressures on the lowerends of said members without transmitting such pressures to the cuttingedge.

5. A pneumatic caisson having a working chamber with a roof, long sidewalls and short end walls, said roof and walls being chiefly ofconcrete, said long side walls being stiiened at considerably separatedintervals in their length by sti vertically extending metal membersembedded in the concrete and extending from the roof to the cutting edgeof said side walls, the width of said members being at leastsubstantially as great as that of the concrete so as to secure themaximum stiffness and to permit the separation of said members byconsiderable intervals, as aforesaid.

6. A pneumatic caisson having a working chamber with a roof, long sidewalls and short end walls, said roof and walls being chiefly ofconcrete, said long side walls being stiffened at considerably sepanrated intervals in their length by stiff vertically extending metalmembers embedded in the concrete and extending from the roof to thecutting edge of said side walls, said members extending in Widthpartially into the chamber so as to secure the maximum stiffness and topermit the separation of said members by considerable intervals, asaforesaid.

7. A pneumatic caisson having a working chamber with a roof, long sidewalls and short end walls, said roof and walls being chiefly ofconcrete, said long side walls being stiffened at considerably separatedintervals in their length by sti vertically extending metal membersembedded in the concrete and extending from the roof to the cutting edgeof said side walls, the width of said members being at leastsubstantially as great as that of the concrete so as to secure themaximum stiffness and to permit the separation of said members byconsiderable intervals, as aforesaid, and transverse braces extendingacross the lower part of the chamber and connecting the lower ends ofthe vertically extending stiffening members.

8. A pneumatic caisson having a working chamber with a roof, long sidewalls and short end walls, said roof and walls being chiefly ofconcrete, said long side walls being stilened at considerably separatedintervals in their length by stiff vertically extending metal membersembedded in the concrete and extending from the roof to the cutting edgeof said side walls, the width of said members being at leastsubstantially as great as that of the concrete so as to secure themaximum stiffness and to permit the separation of said members byconsiderable intervals, as aforesaid, and transverse braces embedded insaid roof and connecting the upper ends of the vertically extendingstiifening members.

9. A pneumatic caisson having a working chamber with a roof, long sidewalls and short end walls, said roof and walls being chieiiy ofconcrete, said long side walls being stiifened at considerably separatedintervals in their length by stiff vertically extending metal membersembedded in the concrete and extending from the roof to the cutting edgeof said side walls, transverse braces connecting the lower and upperends respectively of said vertically extending members, so as to formself-contained transverse stiifening frames of approximately sufficientstrength to resistthe lateral pressures encountered without transmittingthem to the cutting edge.

l0. A pneumatic caisson having a worl ing chamber with a roof, long sidewalls and short end walls, said roof and walls being chiefly ofconcrete, said long side walls being stiifened at considerably sepa#rated intervals in their length by stiff vertically extending metalmembers embedded in the concrete and extending from the roof to thecutting edge of said side walls, transverse braces connecting the lowerand upper ends respectively of said vertically extending members, so asto form self-contained transverse stiifening frames of approximatelysufficient strength to resist the lateral pressures encountered withouttransmitting them to the cutting edge, and longitudinal braces embeddedin the concrete and connecting the upper ends of said frames to eachother.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto signed my name in the presence oftwo subscribing witnesses.

RALPH H. CHAMBERS.

Witnesses:l

D. ANTHONY UsrNA, LULU STUBENVOLL.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C.

